Agents of SHIELD: Too Late For Change
by Alasse Fefalas
Summary: What if Simmons was an Agent of Hydra... but is one against her will? Spoilers for up to 1x18. Warning: MAJOR character death (almost all). Hints of Fitzsimmons and Philinda. (One-shot)


**Too Late For Change**

By Alasse Fefalas

Jemma Simmons had her orders. She didn't like them, but orders were orders. She was an agent of SHIELD, and agents followed orders. Simmons shook her head, smiling grimly. She wasn't a SHIELD agent anymore. Haven't been for a long time already. She was an agent of Hydra.

She was recruited on her second day at The Academy, pulled out of class by Agent Lannisky, a Level Seven agent she had never met before. A closed-door meeting with then-Senator Pierce had convinced her she would be joining Hydra to change the world for the better. Or die in that room, taking the secret that Hydra was within SHIELD to the grave. A young girl of only 14, she chose to whisper the Hydra salute.

"Let's keep this a secret between us, ok?" Pierce had said.

It was something she had hoped would never surface, not while she was alive. If Hydra had been in the depths of SHIELD for 70 years, she hoped it would stay there for the next 70. But recent events had proved her wrong. Hydra had made their move, forcing her to pick a side.

She would have chosen SHIELD but Agent Garrett had known of her secret.

"I know you're one of us," Garrett had said to her when he found her alone in the lab of the Bus. Fitz had gone below deck to retrieve parts for one of his projects.

"What?" she blinked, confused.

"You're not a SHIELD agent," Garrett said lightly, like as if he was describing the weather.

"How - how did you know that?" Simmons sputtered, accidentally dropping the tools in her hands onto the table with a loud clang.

"Hail Hydra," Garrett winked. "I have your orders from Councilman Pierce. No matter what happens, do not show yourself until I give you the say so."

"Sir, I..."

"Do you understand your orders, Agent Simmons?"

The cold look he shot her made her blood freeze in her veins. Stiffly, she nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. And when you do, I want you to... ah... persuade your friends to join us. The more the merrier, eh? But well... if they don't..." Garrett placed a gun on the tabletop, hand lingering on its handle. "All except for your little engineer friend. We need him. Understood?"

Simmons stared at the weapon on her table. It sat there, daring her to take it; A silent threat. "Yes, sir," she repeated, her voice barely a whisper, eyes still on the gun in front of her.

Garrett smiled. It was an easy, charming smile but Simmons knew what dangers lurked behind it. "Good. I expect you to do well, Agent Simmons."

Simmons was still staring at the gun when Garrett walked out. When she heard footsteps coming towards the lab, she had scrambled to hide it from sight, burying it under her table below the other tools.

Ever since then, the offending weapon had invaded in her thoughts. What if Fitz found it? What would she say? What if Skye found it? _Coulson?_

It didn't matter now though. They were up in the air, cut off from all kinds of communication, their identities erased. Even if they disappeared now, no one would know.

Simmons watched Fitz tinker with the Icer across the room, trying to find a way to make it shoot faster. The grim smile returned on her face.

A loud crash from above caught both their attentions, hauling them to their feet at attention. "What the hell is going on?" Fitz asked aloud as he made his way to the lab entrance.

Simmons' hand darted below her table, retrieving the gun. Dropping it discreetly into her deep lab coat pocket, she followed behind Fitz. It was only a precautionary measure, she told herself. In case anything happened.

There was a loud grunt and a body suddenly came crashing down from above, making them both jump in surprise. "What the hell?!" screamed Fitz.

Agent May laid on the ground, moaning in pain. A split second later, Grant Ward came jumping down, gun drawn. He walked over to May and shot her once. Simmons watched in horror as the other woman went still.

Ward turned on his heels, gun raised. He released two shots, but Fitz was faster. He had closed the glass door which stopped the bullets from going through both their brains. Simmons' hand darted into her pocket, enclosing itself around the cold, hard metal.

Ward's face twisted in annoyance. "Open the door, Fitz," he ordered as he stalked to the door.

"Seriously?! You're shooting at us now?! You just killed Agent May! I'd be bloody stupid to open the door!" Fitz shouted.

"Open the door. Now."

"No!"

"Nobody's gonna come and rescue the two of you! Coulson and Triplet are dead. So's Skye. Now open the door or I _will_ ram it down," Ward threatened in a low voice.

Before Fitz could answer, Simmons pulled out the gun and knocked the butt hard onto the side of his head, making him crumple to the ground, knocking him out for a moment. Walking over to the console, she opened the door. Turning to Ward, she looked him straight in the eye. "Did Agent Garrett send you?"

"Huh. So you really are Hydra too. I didn't believe it when Garrett told me. Completely had me fooled. And here I thought I was the only spy in the team." Ward shrugged.

"Are the rest... are they... are they really dead...?" Simmons asked hesitantly, afraid to know the answer.

"They refused to join us."

Simmons knew in her heart they were. It was the same ultimatum given to all. Either you join Hydra or you join Hades. There was no other way. "How did you do it?" she asked softly, trying to hide the pain she felt. They were her family. And she betrayed them. "Please, I need to know."

Ward stared at her for a moment before finally deciding to tell her. "Trip was easy. He didn't suspect a thing. Neither did Skye." Ward smirked at the memory. "Coulson on the other hand though... now I know why he was a legend. He knew there was something off with me. I thought I could take him out quickly... but he did put up quite a fight. If he didn't, May would have stayed in the cockpit where I could have just shot her from behind. I was lucky, I suppose, to have one of my bullets hit Coulson. He went down just as May started attacking me... and well, you saw what happened with May."

Simmons kept quiet, horrified that the people she had cared about were now dead.

"Anyway, I have your orders from Garrett. Out of the shadows, into the light," Ward relayed.

Simmons stiffened. She had wished she didn't hear it, but she did. A low groan came from the floor as Fitz started to wake up from the blow to the head. Ward started to move towards them but Simmons put up a hand to stop him. Shakily, she raised the arm with the gun and pointed it at his head.

"Simmons, what the hell?" Fitz groaned. Slowly, he turned towards her, one hand at his throbbing head, the other bracing himself up against the ground.

"I'm sorry, Fitz, but I had to do it," Simmons apologised.

Fitz stared down the barrel of the gun, then to the person holding it. "No," he breathed. Fitz shook his head, refusing to believe it. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."

"Oh Fitz, I wish you had accepted Agent Garrett's offer..."

"Jemma, no, please. Don't do this. This... this isn't you, Jemma," Fitz squeaked, tears starting to streaming down his face.

"But this IS me, Fitz. I got better at lying, see. I told you I could do it. I've always been Hydra," Simmons smiled sadly. "Even before we met."

"Jemma..."

"I told you, didn't I? Everything's changed. It's too late. Pledge allegiance to Hydra, Fitz. Please. Don't make me do this," Simmons pleaded, the gun in her hand shaking violently.

Fitz shook his head resolutely. "I can't. I won't."

Simmons gripped the gun tighter. The weapon in her hand was hard and cold, just like what she needed to be. "I have no choice then."

"No!" Fitz cried, screaming in pain when a bullet went through his righy thigh.

There was once a time when Simmons loved to hear him scream - in shock, surprise and anger. Never once did she ever hear him scream in pain and now, she never wanted to hear it again. "I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling her heart break into pieces.

"Why...?" Fitz asked through gritted teeth. He was holding his thigh, trying to stop the pain.

"Garrett... he needs you. And I... I still need you, Fitz," Simmons sniffed. Unable to hold it in anymore, tears poured down her cheeks.

"I'd rather die."

"I know." Fear, pain and sadness ran through her system. She knew he would rather die than to let Hydra use his genius, even forcefully, to create technology. And she wouldn't let them either.

Gun still raised, she shot twice at his chest. Surprise and disbelief flashed through his eyes before he dropped to the floor.

"What the hell?!" Ward cried in surprise when she shot Fitz in the chest. "Garrett wanted him alive!"

"I can't!" Simmons shrieked hysterically. "Not to Fitz!"

"You had orders, Simmons!"

"No!"

Ward started advancing towards her when a shot rang through the area. Simmons looked down, checking for any wounds. None. Another shot rang and when she looked up, Ward fell to the floor. Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, she immediately went to hide behind the closest table.

She watched as Coulson came hobbling down, clutching his side where Ward must've had shot him earlier. His grip must've loosened as his gun slipped to the floor with a loud thud. Not bothering to pick it up, he limped towards May's body, collapsing beside her. He cradled her head in his arms and pressed a kiss to her cold forehead, crying loudly. "I'm sorry, May," he said in between sobs. "I'm so sorry."

Simmons knew exactly how Coulson felt - she wanted to do the same thing to Fitz. Standing up, she shuffled over to him. One hand still holding her gun, she used the other to gently stroke his hair. "I couldn't let them use you, Fitz. I just couldn't..." she sobbed.

"Simmons..." Coulson's voice held disbelief. "Simmons what did you do?"

"I'm so sorry, Coulson. I'm so sorry!"

Coulson gently placed May's body back on the floor. Grunting, he stood up, one hand clutching his wound again.

"No, please! Don't come any closer!" Simmons shrieked, pointing the gun at him.

Coulson's free hand went up in the air. "Put the gun down, Simmons."

"No! I killed Fitz! I'm a murderer!"

"Simmons..."

"I'm not SHIELD, I'm Hydra!"

Coulson froze. Two of the agents under him were Hydra and he never realised it. Simmons had expected him to be angry, to lunge at her, but he did the exact opposite. He stayed in his place and told her in a calm voice, "it's okay. It's gonna be okay."

"No, it's not. Hydra just wants to pick at Fitz's and my brains. We're nothing but lab rats to them... I couldn't let them do that to him." Simmons shook her head. "I'm not going to let them do that to me, either. Don't worry, Coulson. All your secrets are safe with us." Tears still running down her face, Simmons gave Coulson a sad smile. Bringing the gun to her head, she pulled the trigger before anyone could stop her.

Jemma Simmons had her orders. She didn't like them, but orders were orders. She was an agent of Hydra, and agents followed orders. Disobedience in Hydra... means death.

Fin.

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A/N: Yeah, I took some liberties with this story. I don't remember whether it was mentioned how old Simmons was when she entered The Academy... so I'm just taking a guess. Also, I don't know how Hydra recruits or whether disobedience in hydra meant death LOL. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed (maybe not the correct word to use here...) the story. Reviews are much loved! Thanks for reading!


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